Israel's south remains quiet. In Jerusalem a Palestinian terrorist staying in Israel illegally carried out a stabbing attack, severely wounding an Israeli civilian. Israeli security forces exposed a Hamas network in Hebron whose operatives planned to carry out various types of terrorist attacks, including suicide bombing attacks In the Abu Tor neighborhood of east Jerusalem an extensive "popular resistance" (i.e., popular terrorism) network was exposed. Its operatives threw Molotov cocktails and stones at Israeli security forces and Jewish Israeli civilians living in the neighborhood.

This week, there were no significant changes in the various combat zones in Iraq and Syria. YPG’s Kurdish forces continue to repel ISIS from the rural area of Kobani. Turkey evacuated a Turkish enclave in Syrian territory located about 35 km south of the Turkish-Syrian border. ISIS, which is establishing its presence in Libya, used social networks for recruiting foreign fighters to fight in the ranks of the organization in Libya.

Convoys and Flotillas

Egyptian authorities refused to allow 17 activists from the Viva Palestina convoy to enter the Gaza Strip. Those denied entry included Viva Palestina leader George Galloway, several activists who had been aboard the Mavi Marmara, Muslim Brotherhood activists, and participants in the confrontation with Egypt’s security forces in January 2010.

In a TV interview, Turkish journalist Şefik Dinç, who was on the Mavi Marmara and wrote a book about it, said that no shots were fired from the Israeli helicopters and that IDF soldiers did not open fire until their lives were in danger. The interview clearly contradicts the IHH narrative.

Kenneth O'Keefe is a former Marine and an American who renounced his citizenship. He is currently an Irish citizen and lives in Britain. He participated in the fighting aboard the Mavi Marmara and has been widely interviewed concerning it. In an interview with the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, he spoke at length about the events aboard the ship and his active participation in them. He presented the IHH narrative, which is completely contradictory to the Israeli position.

This objective of this report is to examine the 561 passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara, their identity and the ideology, nature and goals of the organizations behind them, based on the large amount of evidence accumulated since the flotilla. Even if our information is not complete, it clearly provides a picture of their most prominent common characteristics.

Several books about the flotilla incident have been recently published in Turkey. One of them was written by Şefik Dinç, a reporter for the popular Turkish newspaper Habertürk, who was on board the Mavi Marmara during the last flotilla.

Previous years bulletins

Information on Convoys and Flotillas

The naval closure Israel imposed on the Gaza Strip led to a wave of protest actions by pro-Palestinian organizations, most of which centered around so-called "aid" convoys and flotillas. One of the most prominent was the Mavi Marmara flotilla.The convoys and flotillas are part of the campaign to delegitimize Israel. Convoys and flotillas are organized by anti-Israeli networks and activists from the Middle East and around the world.The flotillas are not fundamentally intended to bring supplies to the Gaza Strip but rather to challenge Israel, erode the legitimacy of its naval closure and strengthen the position of the de-facto Hamas administration; the convoys have basically the same purpose. The convoy and flotilla organizers seek to hamper the IDF's freedom of action to prevent weapons and terrorist operatives from entering the Gaza Strip.The international community rejected the claim of the closure's illegitimacy, stating that aid could be transferred overland to the residents of the Gaza Strip without flotillas to challenge Israel. The international community has been critical of the convoys and flotillas and expressed reservations regarding them. According to the UN Palmer Commission Report, which addressed the issue, Israel's naval closure of the Gaza Strip is a legitimate security measure taken in self defense.